From a 750 into a snifter2013 Barrel Series releaseIBU: 55Imperial sidamo coffee stout aged 12 weeks in bourbon barrels

APPEARANCE: A clear brown pour yields a 2+ finger, medium looking, light tan head with good retention. Clear bistre brown body with higher levels of carbonation for the style. Lots of bubbles. Head slowly fades to a full foam cap and coats the sides of the glass. A splotchy wisp and ring remain but leave no real lacing down the glass. Very clear and thin body with too much carbonation for the style.

SMELL: Roasted coffee beans initially, then some bourbon, oak and sweet cream and vanilla on the nose. Light roasted notes and caramel as well. Medium strength but well balanced.

TASTE: Bourbon and alcohol up front with a boozy, sharp alcohol finish. Too boozy and harsh. Big and lingering finish is very boozy with some bitter, roasted coffee beans, bourbon, and some roasted grain. A touch of bitter chocolate too, but the piercing alcohol is pretty unpleasant, overpowering the coffee and roasted flavors. Rough, rough going really.

PALATE: Medium-thinner body with higher levels of carbonation. Lighter on the palate, goes down okay with a bit of a scratch and finishes mouth-coating. Lots of heat and booze lingers.

OVERALL: I really wanted to like this one, but it just wasn't meant to be. It began promising, but it was simply too boozy and harsh in the flavor, and too thin, light and hot in the feel. There is some potential here, but they'd have to take care of the overly harsh alcohol and the unpleasantly thin and abrasive feel before I'd bother with this one again. Not my thing. Thanks again for the trade cpferris.

many a thanks goes out to Shilt who tossed me this unbelievable extra many moons ago. enjoyed from a gbs chalice

a - brew pours a deep rich brown/black with 2 fingers of frothy tan foamy head that didn't hang out long, but left some streaky lacing on the glass.

s - nose is bitter coffee and anise with a good dosing of soft bourbon peatiness.

t - opens with big coffee nice roast hints of chocolate and then wood with some sort of booziness to it. not very bourbon forward but a tad biting from an seedy anise flavor. moderate bitterness. finish is a bit rough and raw.

m - fairly silky aside from the biting finish.

o - overall, in the world of barrel aged beers with coffee in them, this really tows the line of average at best. drinkable, in the way that a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich will always be edible but some pb&j sandwhiches makes you question what the sandwhich maker was thinking. perhaps this one didn't spend enough time in the barrels? perhaps i held it too long? either way, not a drain pour, but far from something i'd be eager to have again.

S- First smell I got was dark fruit - fig maybe? Bourbon and coffee are both in the background of the nose. All in all, there isn't much of a nose to this beer.

T- I don't get much coffee at all here. I'm still stuck on the dark fruit thing. I taste raisins, figs, etc. There's some coffee on the finish but it doesn't linger. Bourbon is there the whole time but acts more as a compliment to the dark fruit. Being a person that isn't a fan of anything overwhelmingly bourbony, I'm okay with this. Coffee becomes slightly more prominent as it warms. It's still not the dominant flavor but it's presence is known.

M- Way thinner than I would expect from a 10% beer. Not saying this is a bad thing, just unexpected.

O- I'd call this good for its category. Not great, but good. I wouldn't complain if someone pulled it out at a tasting but would I go out of way to pick it up again? Probably not.

A: Pours a very dark cola brown color that looks distressingly thin. The head starts off at about one fingers of a light khaki shade, but settles down to a thin collar after a short while. Not much lacing, as expected.

S: No one note jumps out at me - rather, they tend to meld together quite well. I pick up some vanilla, touches of black coffee, chocolate, cream, molasses, and brown sugar. The bourbon presence is very subtle.

T: The first sip seems to reveal the bourbon tones, only for the second sip to wash over that with mild coffee notes. After vanilla initially opens the palate, it develops strong nutty flavors in the middle before it finishes with some bitter coffee and maybe a speck of roasted barley. I think the coffee is stale here - though to be fair, it's not the freshest bottle so I'll let it slide. It doesn't have an annoying vegetal component, at least. Well balanced and enjoyable.

M: It's texture is rather thin and even fragile, without much softness to make up for it. The finish is rather sweet and sticky; in spite of that, the drinkability is actually quite dangerous partly thanks to strong carbonation. The underwhelming body still kind of irks me, though.

O: I have two quibbles here: it's not very 'stout-y', and it's way too thin. Otherwise, this is a decent BA coffee stout that focuses more on balance than big, bold flavor. At its price, though, I probably won't buy another bottle, except for usage as trade bait.